Do you think the Cayman S was one of the best cars from Porsche? You are in for a treat then. For here’s one which is even better, the Porsche Cayman R. Porsche uses the letter R only for really special sports cars. R stands for Responsive. Redefined, Sensitive and definitely Racing. It is named as R to pay a tribute to the 911 R, the first Porsche with “R” which was released in the year 1967. The Cayman R made its world debut in the Los Angeles Auto Show on the 17th of November 2010. This is a limited edition car and is said to be a descendant of the 550 from 1950’s and 904’s from the 1960’s. Both of them are mid-engine high performance coupes.
The new Cayman R, through its performance completely justifies all the attributes R stands for. It is like the Cayman S been put on a diet. The new Cayman R weighs 55 kilograms (121 lb) lighter than Cayman S, and has its power upped by 10hp. It uses a specially designed sports chassis for a better driving experience than the Cayman S.
The new Cayman R is powered by a tuned up 3.4 liter six-cylinder engine with 330 hp or 243 kW on tap. It transmits its power to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gear box. This car can race from 0 to 100 km/hr (62 mph) in less than five seconds. This car has also an option of the seven-speed Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (DPK) through which we can reduce the acceleration time to 4.9 seconds. The optional Sport Chrono package is also available for a much more impressive performance. Through this the acceleration time can be further reduced to 4.7 seconds.
Cayman R is capable of a top speed of 282 km/h or 175mph. With PDK, this can be 280 km/hr. Its fuel consumption with six-speed gear box is 9.71/100 km and 9.31/100 km with PDK. With a reduction in weight of the Cayman R, the car makers could reduce the power-to-weight ratio to 3.9 kilograms in the case of a manual gear box and to 4 kilograms in the case of PDK. The Cayman R has wheels as light as Porsche could make. The entire set of 19 inch wheels weighs less than 40 kilograms. As a result, the weight of the entire vehicle was reduced to 2855 lb thereby increasing the driving performance and agility of the new Porsche. Lightweight aluminum door skins, carbon-fiber backed sport bucket seats and interior door panels are the same as used in the 911
GT3 RS. These also help a lot in reducing the overall weight of the vehicle
The new Porsche looks sleek and stylish with the extended bodywork. The height has been lowered by 20 millimeters as compared to the Cayman R. The “PORSCHE” lettering on the side, in black and silver announces to the world that it is a Porsche racing car. The rear spoiler, high quality silver painted wheels and the sporting headlights are all distinctive and adding to its appearance.
Planning to buy the Cayman R? Be ready with $66,300 by mid February 2011.
Source: topspeed
